Philips flags Korea’s AI paradox as doctors push adoption and patients hold back

South Korea’s doctors are drowning in paperwork while patients wait an average of 40 days to see a specialist. Artificial intelligence (AI), industry leaders say, could be the lifeline. But a new Philips report shows Korea also faces one of the world’s widest trust divides between physicians eager for AI and patients deeply skeptical of it.

The Future Health Index 2025 report for Korea, unveiled Wednesday at a press conference hosted by Philips Korea in Seoul, surveyed 100 clinicians and 1,000 patients. 

Ninety-six percent of Korean doctors said AI could improve care. Far fewer patients agreed, leaving a gap wider than the global average. The paradox is stark: Korea has the infrastructure and appetite to move fastest, yet public hesitation could slow deployment.

Choi Nak-hoon, general manager of Philips Korea, called it “the defining challenge” for digital health. AI is spreading rapidly worldwide, he said, but questions of necessity, reliability and trust have become impossible to ignore. “Through this survey, we confirmed both AI’s potential to transform care delivery and the existence of a trust gap,” he said. “It’s something we need to address head on.”

Ninety-one percent of Korean clinicians said they lose clinical time because of fragmented data systems, with more than half reporting 45 minutes or more wasted per shift. That adds up to over four weeks of lost work per doctor each year. Compared to five years ago, physicians said they spend less time with patients and more time hunting down lab results, radiology files and scattered electronic medical record (EMR) notes.

Doctors believe AI could reverse the trend. Many said predictive analytics could strengthen preventive medicine, while automation of record-keeping could shrink the mountain of paperwork. 

But they also warned that delaying adoption risks making backlogs worse. Patients, on the other hand, voiced anxiety that algorithms would cut into precious face time with their doctors.

Professor Kim Eun-kyung, director of Yongin Severance Hospital and a radiologist by training, offered a glimpse of what early adoption looks like. Her hospital, rebuilt in 2020 as a “digital innovation hospital,” mapped its strategy with Philips Korea through design-thinking workshops. 

Clinicians identified bottlenecks across the patient journey -- from outpatient visits to admissions and discharge -- and matched them to digital tools. Today, Yongin runs 34 AI-enabled solutions spanning imaging, pathology, monitoring and logistics.

Some benefits have been measurable. Continuous patient monitoring cut mortality in general wards from roughly 15 deaths per 1,000 to below 10. “When we monitor patients this closely, what is the real outcome? Mortality rates go down,” Kim said. “Ultimately, the question is: does this technology help patients? And the answer is yes.”

Other gains are subtler but no less important. AI tools now flag anomalies on chest X-rays and mammograms, prioritize suspicious scans in radiologists’ queues, and auto-transcribe clinical notes with near-perfect accuracy after months of voice training. Digital pathology has replaced FedEx packages of fragile slides with instant online consults -- what used to take months now happens in real time with colleagues abroad.

Still, Kim admitted the transformation came at a cost. Building out 15 core solutions at launch consumed about 25 billion won, including infrastructure upgrades to support IoT and AI systems. Most of that expense was borne by the hospital itself. “In the short term, yes, hospitals and patients may need to pay more,” she said. “But in the long run, early detection and timely intervention will reduce overall spending.”

Smaller hospitals, she added, face tougher choices. Unlike prescribing a pill, AI systems must be integrated into EMR and picture archiving and communication system (PACS), connected to networks and embedded into workflows -- a costly lift for underfunded clinics. That’s why Yongin serves as a testbed, providing what Kim called “frank feedback” to vendors: “This works, that doesn’t, this needs fixing.”

The regional context adds another layer. Philips compared Korea with Japan and China, noting sharp differences in culture and policy. China, where the government aggressively drives adoption, shows the highest enthusiasm and fastest data accumulation. Japan, by contrast, remains cautious, with adoption slowed by conservatism. Korea sits in between, technically advanced and receptive but lacking China’s top-down momentum.

“Our hope is that by fostering collaboration across Korea, Japan and China, we can build solutions tailored for Asia’s demographics and health systems,” Choi said. Philips Korea already has teams embedded in Japanese university hospitals, working with radiologists to compare how clinicians interpret AI outputs on MRI and CT. “If this goes well,” he added, “we could create solutions that work seamlessly across both countries.”

Demographics heighten the urgency. Korea has entered a super-aged society with one of the lowest birth rates in the world. At Yongin Severance, nearly 40 percent of inpatients are in their seventies or eighties. 

Kim warned that hospitals cannot be the default place for patients to spend their final years. “In nearby countries, it’s becoming more common for elderly patients to spend their final years at home,” she said. “But in Korea, people often remain dependent on tertiary hospitals until the very end. That must change.”

Philips executives agreed, arguing that population decline means more chronic disease, more surgeries and heavier pressure on the system. Wearable devices, home monitoring and preventive AI tools will be essential to lighten hospital loads. But policy must catch up. Choi pointed to reimbursement structures as a key barrier, noting that alignment between government, hospitals and industry is the only way to scale.